England loses key player for the remainder of Champions Trophy 2017 : The hosts England have been dealt with a major blow as their star bowler Chris Woakes has been ruled out of the remainder of Champions Trophy 2017.
Chris Woakes bowled only 2 overs in yesterday’s match against Bangladesh at Kennington Oval, London and went off the field due to a side strain. Before the tournament started, Chris Woakes was suffering from an injury and did not take field in the third One- day international against South Africa.
England started the tournament with a thumping 8 wicket win over Bangladesh in the first match. Joe Root scored a brilliant 133, Alex Hales 95 and Captain Eoin Morgan remained not out on 75 to help the hosts chase down the target of 306 with ease.
Morgan said after the game that England had not rushed Chris Woakes back from the quad niggle. “Chris Woakes was chomping at the bit to play,” he said. “If we rushed him, he might have played the last game of the [South Africa] one-day series but we didn”t want to rush him.”
England did a great job to restrict Bangladesh to 305 after Tamim Iqbal and Rahim had put on 166 runs for the third wicket. Chris Woakes had scans on his injury which proved that his tournament ended. The hosts will play next New Zealand on 6th at Cardiff and on 10th against arch-rivals Australia at Edgbaston. Steve Finn could be the likely replacement for Chris Woakes.
“A scan has confirmed that Chris Woakes sustained a left side strain in yesterday’s ICC Champions Trophy match against Bangladesh,” said an England and Wales Cricket Board statement.
Chris Woakes has played a total of 63 One- day internationals taking 89 wickets with an economy of 5.58. He is an useful batsmen lower down the order who has the best score 95*. Apart from that he has played 17 test matches and 8 T20’s for the country.
Chris Woakes was bought by Kolkata Knight Riders in this year’s IPL. He did a decent job with the bowl taking 17 wickets in 13 matches. England has been considered one of the favourites to win this year’s Champions Trophy 2017.
Chris Woakes has the ability to swing the ball and make the life tough for the opposition batsmen with his pace. If England are to win the tournament, his replacements need to create the same impact as Chris Woakes would have done.
